There’s a “Right” and a “Wrong” Way to Breathe?

A Right and a Wrong Way to Breathe?

While it may seem you certainly know how to breathe, most of us actually breathe in such a way as to put our health in jeopardy.

In fact, the whole field of breathing and breath-work has enormous potential for improvement. As breathing techniques are promoted in yoga, Pilates, and meditative methods, they all tend to focus on taking big, deep breaths-which is actually the opposite of what you should do.

Right Way to Breathe

According to Patrick McKeown in the Buteyko Breathing Method in his book, The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You, two of the most common problems are over breathing (hyperventilating) and mouth breathing, both of which have adverse health ramifications, and can have harmful consequences if done during exercise.

As Patrick wrote the habit of over breathing is set in place, it tends to become and remain chronic, and to recover you need to use some sort of relearning technique, such as the one devised by Russian doctor Konstantin Buteyko. While in medical training he noticed that the sicker the patient got, the heavier they breathed. Later, he also recorded he could lower his blood pressure simply by bringing his breathing toward normal, and in this same way he successfully “cured” his own hypertension.

Effects of Hyperventilation Syndrome

So what exactly is hyperventilation, or “over breathing?” Hyperventilation is defined as “breathing in excess of metabolic requirements of the body at that time.” Some symptoms are:

Mouth breathing

Frequent sighing

Noticeable or audible breathing during rest

Yawning with big breaths

Sleep apnea

Missed heart beats

Cold hand and feet

Headache

Dizziness

Numbness, tingling, and pins and needles

Irritable cough

Anxiety, panic and phobias

Allergies

Acid re flux, heartburn

Gas, belching, bloating, and abdominal discomfort

Weakness; exhaustion

Disturbed sleep, including nightmares

What is Normal Breathing?

Normal breathing equates to 10 to 12 breaths per minute. Interestingly, breathing for people with asthma tends to be more breaths per minute. Asthmatics and those with sleep apnea breathe far too much-as much as three times more than normal- and this dysfunctional breathing pattern is part of their disease profile.

So, what causes this dysfunctional breathing in the first place? Most dysfunctional patterns are rooted in the modern lifestyle. Factors include:

Overeating

Stress

Excessive talking

Lack of exercise

Asthma

High temperature indoors

Over breathing not only reduces carbon dioxide, it also reduces the delivery of oxygen to the tissues and organs in your body. It can cause severe constriction of your carotid arteries, and can reduce the amount of available oxygen to your brain by half. This is why you feel light headed when breathing too hard.

The Buteyko Breathing Method

Dr. Buteyko discovered the level of carbon dioxide in your lungs correlates to your ability to hold your breath after normal exhalation. Repeat the following exercise several times in succession, waiting about 30 to 60 seconds in between rounds. And do the exercise on a regular basis.